Foundations
First Steps in C#
Types, operators, statements and the shape of a first program, with lab exercises you repeat yourself until the ideas stick.
A free study desk for web developers
Learn to build web applications with ASP.NET and C#
CSharpUniversity is a written course library for people who want to make real, working web applications on the Microsoft stack. Every lesson is short enough to finish in one sitting and specific enough to reuse the same day.
The material starts from the very beginning, assumes no prior .NET experience, and moves in a straight line from installing your tools to querying a database and publishing a small web service.
C#
// a first look at the language
string learner = "new developer";
int lessonsDone = 0;
while (lessonsDone < 12)
{
lessonsDone++;
}
System.Console.WriteLine(
learner + " finished " + lessonsDone);12
Lesson tracks, from setup to web services
Free
Every written lesson is open to read
2008
Teaching web programming since this year
C#
One language, taught all the way through
Where to begin
Three ways into the material
If you are new to programming, follow the tracks in order. If you already write code and only need the web layer, start with server controls. If you came for data work, the ADO.NET track is the shortest path to a working query.
ASP.NET
ASP.NET from Scratch
Server controls, page events, reading form input and validation, so your pages react to the person using them.
Data
Talking to a Database with ADO.NET
Connect to SQL Server and read, insert, change and remove rows with parameterised commands that stay safe.
The full library
Pick the track that matches your next task
Getting Your Tools Ready
Install the editor, open a sample project and understand what a dynamic web application actually does.
5 lessons
Tour of Visual Web Developer
Walk the windows, panels and debugging tools of the free Microsoft editor.
15 lessons
Making Decisions and Repeating Work
Branch with if and switch, repeat with for and while, and practise each idea.
4 lessons
Storing Many Values
Hold many values in one place and choose the right collection for the job.
3 lessons
Building Your Own Types
Group data and behaviour into types and learn how the runtime cleans up after them.
11 lessons
Data Controls in Practice
Bind live database results to GridView and FormView controls, then sort, page and search them.
10 lessons
Web Services and Reuse
Expose database logic through a web service and keep client pages in step when it changes.
3 lessons
Installing and Running SQL Server
Install, secure, back up and restore the free database engine behind the data lessons.
6 lessons
Beyond the lessons
Toolkits you can use in a real project
Downloadable kit
ASP.NET Beginner Web Site Kit
Fully working sample applications with source code, database files and written setup notes, built for practice rather than theory.
Open source
Error Handler project
A small library and viewer that records exceptions from your web application and lets you search them later.
Short reading
Mini eBooks
Short written briefings that explain one concept well, starting with how data sources and data binding fit together.
About the teacher. Ted Kolovos has been building for the web since the early 1990s and teaching ASP.NET with C# since the platform arrived. He is a Microsoft certified developer and a certified project manager, and he wrote every lesson on this site. You can read more on the about page or send a question through the contact form.